Loading device for railway cars



J. J. M BRIDE I LOADING DEVICE FOR RAILWAY CARS Feb 20, 1940.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 11 INVENTOR dbim JNIBrz'de ATTORNEY Feb. 20, 1940. J. J. McBR lDE 2,190,724

I LOADING DEVICE FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed July 11, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR JIM '. ATTORNEY Patented Fb.'2o,194o

; um r STATES PATENT OFFICE 7 LOADING pnvio-EroaRnIIlvvAY oAjas John J. McBride, Bayonne,"Nflsassignor to American Car and Foundry Company, New York, N, Y., a corporation of New Jersey i Application Julyll, 1938, Serial No. 218,674

' reclai s (or. 214 583);

\ Ihis invention relates'to loading devices for railway cars in general and in particular to loading devices for use in connection with cov' ered hopper cars.

In constructing any railway car it is necessary that the underframe be made sufiiciently strong to transmit the buiiing and draft forces of the entire train and in order to take full advantage of the necessary strength of'the underfrarneit is imperative that the car body be made as large as possible, while conforming to clearance limitations; Even with the car body made as large as. possible, ityis still necessary to take full advantage ofthe cubic capacity of the car in order toobtain afull pay load when the car is used I to transport light ladings such as carbon black."

In the past railway cars have been loaded by meanslof blowers, pumps or chutes operating in conjunction with vibrators but by none of these 5 methods has'an even and exact loading of cars been possible It is an object, therefore, of the present invention to provide" a railway car with a conveyer device attached to the car structure and capable of loading the car'to a uniform, 1 maximum capacity.

A further object of the invention is the provision ofa covered railway car which maybe loaded to a substantially maximum cubic capacity with leading entering the car through one do or more hatch openings.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a covered railway car having a screw conveyer attached thereto with openings in theside walls ortunnelpieces permitting the crest of the lading to more nearly approach the roof of the car. l l

These and other objects .of the invention will be apparent to persons skilled in the art from a study of the following description and accom- 3w panying drawings, in which:

1 :Figurel is a side elevational view with onehalf being in section to more clearly disclose the conveyery v Fig. 2 is a plan view of the railway car having a portion of the roof broken away to more clearly disclose the screw conveyer for loading the car; l

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially through the center of the car and indicating the g manner in which the lading capacity of the car is increased; v

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a portion of one tunnel piecelof the conveyer; e I

While Fig. 5 is'a perspective view of a modified 5'5 tunnel piece.

(Referring nowto-the drawings in detail, it

willi'be'seen that the loading device has been lustrated'as attached a covered n hopper car, but it willibeobvious that it is of equal value when attached to cars of other types, such as general service, box or covered gondolas and in certain instances'may be of use on cars which are more or less open." In the present instance the hopper car is more 'orless of the same type as disclosed in Dietrichson Patent No. 2,024,342 and is constructed with the customary center sills 2 tied together bytop cover plate 4 and protected in the hopper'zoneat least by means of shed plate 6. This center sill constitutes the backbone of the car and supports the customary bolsters 8 and intermediate cross bearers E0 to" which are joined the partition platesl2 extend ing substantially to the roof of the car and at their lower edges side'slope sheets 22 which together with the previously mentioned slope sheets converge to form an outlet opening 24.

The side slop-e sheets andlower edge of the side walls are flanged and attached together and to an angle member 28 to form a strong belt rail extending substantially from bolster to bolster of the car. The side walls of the car are stiffened by means of bolster posts 28 and a plurality of posts it and $2, the former extending from the top of the side wall to, the'belt rail; While the latterextend downwardly past the belt rail for' attachment to an angle member 36 extending substantially.throughout the length of the car.

It is obvious, of course, that the side wall and hopper arrangementmay be changed or that thehoppers may be eliminated entirely and mechanical means provided for the discharge of the lading. v y

The top edge of the side wall is attached to the downwardly directed flange of a Z-bar plate 35 having its web substantially horizontal and the other flange directed upwardly for attachment of the roof sheets 33. In the present instance the roof is of the more or less conventional dc sign supported by carlines 46 extending between the side plates and carrying the longitudinal and latitudinal running boards Gland M respectively. I-Iatch op-enings 46 are provided in theroof 'possible for the lading to be pushed outward means to be arranged in such a position adjacent the partitions and partition ladders in order to permit inspection and cleaning of the hoppers, while additional hatch openings 48 are provided through which lading may be loaded into the car. In the present instance only two loading hatches are illustrated, one on either side of the longitudinal running board at diagonally opposite corners oi the in the area not occupied by the latitudinal running boards, but it is obvious that more loading openings may be provided if necessary.

The loading device itself consists of a screw conveyer formed by tunnel or side pieces 50 extending substantially from loading hatch to loading hatch and each formed with an upper flange 52 by means of which it may be attached to the carlines through the intermediary of gusset plates 5 The lower edge of, each tunnel piece is flared outwardlyand downwardly as at 56, while the intermediate portions are provided with openings 58 located at a predetermined height above the bottom of the side or tunnel pieces in order that lading may be pushed therethrough to increase the heightoi the lading in the car.

In'order to distribute the lading in the car a screw conveyer 5D is mounted between the tunnel pieces and supported by bearings'62 at the ends of the car and by at least one bearing 64 located intermediate the ends of the car. The screw threads of the conveyer are in the present instance arranged in opposition to each other on opposite sides of the central bearing in order that the conveyer may be rotated from one end of the car and feed the lading from either or both hatch openings simultaneously toward the center of the car. In order to rotate-the screw cnveyer a motor or other means 66 is permanently or removably carried upon a bracket 68 mounted upon the end wall of the ,car adjacent the run-- ningboard extension. As shown in'the present instance the motor or driving means is of the removable type which is necessary since it extends beyond the ends of the longitudinal running board; however, it is possible for this drive as to preclude its'e'xtension beyond the ends of the running board, thus permitting its permanent mounting upon the car. It is obvious that the screw conveyer will ieedmaterial from the hatchways toward the center of the car distributing it to the hoppers and it is equally obvious that were the openings 58 not provided the lading could not be loaded into the car above the lower edges or" the tunnel pieces. By providing the openings 58 in the conveyer sides or tunnel pieces it is through these openings and thus raising the crest of the lading to a point corresponding to the position of the top of the openings in the tunnel pieces and as indicated by line and dash in Fig. 3.

With some ladings and under certain requirements it may be desirable to distribute the lading more directly throughout the hopper, in which case a conveyer tunnel piece 18 (Fig. may be provided. This tunnel piece is formed of a single piece of metal having its ends flanged outwardly as at $2 for attachment to the carline carried gussets, while the intermediate portion is curved substantially concentric with the screw conveyer and provided with bottom openings l4 and high level side openings '56. With this type of tunnel piece it is obvious that the lading will be distributed more evenly throughout the length of the hopper during the first part of the loading, while the final loading to a maximum capacity will force lading through the openings 16 giving a final result equivalent to that obtainedby use of the open bottom conveyer previously described.

It is to be understood that various forms of conveyer may be used which will accomplish the same result as that accomplished by the forms of the invention shown, namelyfthe distribution of lading in a railway car and the forcing of the same to a high level impossible with the ordinary type of conveyer. It, is also to be understood that these various forms of conveyers, as well as those illustrated, are intended to be covered by the following claims which define the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A railway car for transporting lading having a container portion in which the lading is carried,

a top covering the container portion and provided with an opening for reception of lading, and substantiallyhoiizontal conveyer means attached to said top and operable to convey and distribute lading to saiclcontainer portion from said opening, said conveyer means being formed in part by tunnel pieces ings intermediate the upper and lower edges thereof for the discharge of lading adjacent said top.

2. A railway car for transporting lading having a container portion in which the lading is carried, 1

a top covering the container portion and provided with openings at either end thereof for reception of lading, and substantially horizontal conveyer means attached to the car adjacent the said top, said conveyer means receiving lading from I said openings for distribution to said container portion, and said conveyer means being formed at least'in part by tunnel pieces provided with side openings intermediate the upper and lower edges thereof for distribution of lading to the container adjacent said top.

3. A railway car for transporting lading having a container portion in which the lading is carried, a substantially rectangular top covering the container portion and provided with openings adjacent diagonally opposite corners thereof, and

substantially horizontal conveyer means carried by the top covering and extending diagonally of the car from one opening'to the other for distribution of lading from said openings to said container portion, said conveyer means being formed in part by tunnel pieces provided with side openings intermediate the upper and lower edges thereof for the discharge of ladingadjacent said top.

4. A railway car for transporting lading having a container portion in which the lading is carried, a substantially rectangular top covering the container portion and provided with openings adjacent diagonally opposite corners thereof, and substantially horizontal conveyer means carried by the top covering and extending diandprovided with an opening for reception of lading and substantially horizontal conveyer means carried by the roof adjacent thereto and operable to distribute lading to said container portion from said opening, said conveyer means provided with side open- CJI having side discharge openings located intermediate the upper and lower edges of said means for distribution of lading to the container portion at a level intermediate the roof and lower edge of the conveyer means. i

6. A railway car for transporting lading having a container portion in which the lading is carried, a roof covering the container portion and provided with openings adjacent either end of the roof for reception of lading, and substantially horizontal conveyer means carried by the roof adjacent thereto and operable to distribute lading to said container portion from each of said roof openings, said conveyer means comprising a screw conveyer and a tunnel piece, and said tunnel piece being formed with side openings for distribution of lading therethrough to the container portion at a level intermediate the roof and bottom of the screw conveyer.

'7. A railway hopper car for transporting lading having hopper portions in which the lading is carried, a roof covering the hopper portions, a longitudinal running board carried by the roof substantially at the longitudinal center thereof,

anopening in the roof adjacent a side of the running board, conveyer means carried by the roof adjacent thereto and operable to distribute lading to the hopper portions from said opening, said conveyer means having side discharge openings for distribution of lading to the hopper portion at a level adjacent the roof thereby increasing the lading carrying capacity of the car.

8. A railway hopper car for transporting lading having hopper portions in which the lading is carried, a roof covering the hopper portions, a longitudinal running board carried by the roof substantially at the longitudinal center thereof, openings in the roof adjacent either side of the running board, and conveyer means carried by the car adjacent the roof and operable to distribute lading to the hopper portions from said openings, said conveyer means comprising a screw conveyer and tunnel pieces housing the same, and said tunnel pieces being formed with side openings adjacent the roof for distribution of lading to the hopper portion at a level adjacent the roof of the car.

9. A railway hopper car for transporting lading having hopper portions in which the lading is carried, a roof covering the hopper portions, a

i longitudinal running board carried by the roof substantially at the longitudinal center thereof, openings in the roof adjacent either side of the running board and adjacent the ends thereof,

conveyer means carried by the car adjacent the and provided with an roof, said conveyer means extending diagonally of the car and operable to distribute lading to the hopper portions from said openings, and said conveyer tunnel pieces carried by the car immediately adjacent the roof, a screw conveyer housed by said tunnel pieces and extending diagonally of the car beneath the running board,

said conveyer being operable to distribute lading to the hopper portions from said openings, and said tunnel pieces being formed with high level openings whereby lading may be distributed to the hopper portions at a level adjacent the car roof. 1

11. A railway car for transporting lading havinga container portion in which the lading is carried, a roof covering the container portion,

openings in the roof, and conveyer means carried by the car adjacent said roof and operable to distribute lading to the container portion from said openings, said conveyer means comprising a screw conveyer and tunnel pieces at least partially housing the same, said tunnel" pieces being spaced apart throughout their length and formed with side openingsintermediate the upper and lower edges thereof for final distribution of lading to the container portion at a level adjacent the roof of the car.

12. A railway car for transporting lading and having a container portion in which the lading is carried, a roof coveringthe container portion opening for reception of lading, and conveyer means carried by the car adjacent the roof and operable to distribute lading to the container portion from said opening, said conveyer means comprising a screw conveyer and a tunnel piece housing the same, said tunnel piece, being formed with bottom openings and with side openings intermediate the top and bottom portions thereof, said side openings discharging lading at a level above the bottom of the tunnel pieces and adjacent said roof.

dorm J. MCBRIDE. 

